Waterloo's appeal to graduate students

“Are you looking for a city that boasts a thriving multicultural community with safe streets, plenty of green space, top-tier entertainment, museums, restaurants and shopping?” If you’re a potential graduate student, it seems the answer is yes . . . and the city that meets that description is the one that surrounds UW.

At any rate that’s the pitch on an eye-catching double-page spread in the new recruitment brochure (“Your Mind, Our Mentors”) being distributed to potential grads by the UW graduate studies office.

The Daily Bulletin has been republishing the feature articles from the 24-page brochure, which present case studies of the work done by a grad student and a faculty member and the mentoring relationship that develops. There’s one such feature from each of UW’s six faculties; three have appeared here so far, and three will be along in the days ahead.

In addition, the brochure has the spread about life in Kitchener-Waterloo (“combines the advantages of a small city with easy access to metropolitan Toronto”), the nitty-gritty about admission procedures and financial aid, and a double page aimed at international students. “One-quarter of all graduate students come from 80 nations around the world,” it notes. “You’ll hear students speaking a variety of languages . . . everyone is welcome in Canada, a safe country where people from many different ethnic backgrounds live peacefully together.” There’s fine print on English language requirements, international student fees and living costs, and the typical weather in southern Ontario during “four distinct seasons”.

Another double page describes the merits of UW itself, which “fosters a diverse offering of disciplines, from philosophy to kinesiology, from tourism to electric power engineering”. Naturally it calls Waterloo “innovative and entrepreneurial”, noting “one of the highest percentages of professors with PhDs in Canada” and a “self-contained campus” with its many amenities.

Publication of such a brochure is part of UW’s effort, a conscious one in response to the Sixth Decade Plan, to dramatically increase graduate enrolment and attract students from around the world. “This publication,” says a memo from Jeanette Nugent of the grad studies office, “was developed by a number of teams on campus, including the Graduate Studies Office, Faculty Graduate Recruitment Specialists and Graphics. This brochure will be distributed to prospective students and will be mailed to agencies, embassies and Canadian Education Centres around the world.” The full publication is available online in PDF format.

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Election of faculty and grads to senate

a memo from the university secretariat

Nominations are requested for the following seats on the University Senate:

Faculty Representatives: One faculty member of the University to be elected by/from each Faculty of the University, term from May 1, 2008 to April 30, 2011.

Faculty-at-Large Representatives: Seven faculty members of the University to be elected by/from the members of faculty of the University, terms from May 1, 2008 to April 30, 2011. One faculty member of the University to be elected by/from the members of faculty of the University, term from May 1, 2008 to April 30, 2009.

One faculty member of Renison College to be elected by/from the members of faculty of Renison College, term from May 1, 2008 to April 30, 2011.

One faculty member of St. Jerome's University to be elected by/from the members of faculty of St. Jerome's University, term from May 1, 2008 to April 30, 2011.

Two graduate students of the University to be elected by/from the full- and part-time graduate students of the University, terms from May 1, 2008 to April 30, 2010.

Nomination forms are available from the Secretariat (x36125) and from the Secretariat webpage. At least five nominators are required in each case. Nominations should be sent to the Secretariat, Needles Hall, Room 3060, no later than 3:00 p.m., Friday, March 28. Elections will follow if necessary.

Senators whose terms expire April 30, 2008: Faculty: Stephen Birkett (Systems Design Engineering), Sherry Dupuis (Recreation & Leisure Studies), Pierre Filion (Planning), Peter Forsyth (Computer Science), Mariela Gutiérrez* (Spanish & Latin American Studies), Mary Hardy (Statistics & Actuarial Science), Duane Kennedy (Accountancy), Scott Kline (St. Jerome's University), Robert Le Roy* (Chemistry), Susan Lolle (Biology), Tracy Peressini* (Renison College), Bill Power* (Chemistry), Donna Strickland* (Physics), Scott Taylor (Chemistry), Geoff Wall (Geography), Johnny Wong (Computer Science). Graduate Students: Rashid Rehan (Civil & Environmental Engineering), Craig Sloss* (Combinatorics & Optimization). Asterisk indicates those not eligible for re-election, having served for two consecutive terms.

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What's happening in March break

High schools and public schools in Waterloo Region and across the province will be closed this coming week for an Ontario tradition: March break. That means a UW tradition, the open house for applicants and their families that used to be called "Campus Day" and is now, straightforwardly, "March Break Open House". It's taking place Tuesday, with information booths in the Student Life Centre, tours of the campus and a number of presentations about such key issues as co-op education and financing a university education. There's also an open house at the Cambridge campus, for the School of Architecture. Detailed schedules are online.

And check tomorrow's Globe and Mail for a UW advertisement based on Bill Gates's visit to Waterloo last month. The advertisement promotes Tuesday's open house and quotes the Microsoft chairman saying that Waterloo is "almost always in the top three universities in terms of the number of graduates we hire." The ad uses the same photo of Gates currently featured on the UW homepage.

Also during March break, a number of the displaced youngsters will be spending time on campus. The Warrior football team is operating a week-long training camp for school football players, in the Columbia Icefield, and Engineering Science Quest will operate three daily camps for students in grades 1 to 3 ("Darwin") and grades 4 to 6 ("Franklin"). "Each camp has capacity for 24 campers," says director Martin Scherer. "All camps have been booked full for over two weeks, and cost $45 a session. The majority of camps are being held in the Student Life Centre. All camps are being staffed by a combination of university and high school students, many of whom are volunteering some of their time to share their passion of science and engineering with this future generation of scientists and engineers. This staff will also be involved in our summer programs."

Jesse Rodgers, president of the staff association, wrote to his membership on Wednesday afternoon with the official news of what happened at Tuesday’s general meeting: “Staff members met to vote on proposed changes to the UWSA constitution. In total, 256 SA members (104 in person plus 152 members via proxy) voted. A clear majority (over 75%) voted to accept both the new constitution and the fee increase. . . . Over the next two weeks the Hiring Committee for the Executive Manager will meet and finalize a job description for HR to evaluate. Following normal UW procedure, we will post the job internally, then externally if required. At this point, it is unlikely that we will have a candidate hired and in position by May 1, 2008 but the UWSA Executive hopes to at least have the position filled. . . . The UWSA Executive is now looking for UWSA members to participate on two new committees: a committee to examine the requirements, limitations, and practicality of a 'members fund' (up to nine members are required); and a committee to recommend the types of services the UWSA should offer (again, up to nine members are required). Area reps will also be utilized to solicit feedback on these two issues. If you are interested in volunteering to serve on one of these committees, please forward a letter of application to the Chair of the Nominating Committee, Sue Fraser (fraser@uwaterloo.ca), by Monday, March 17.”

UW Clean Snowmobile Team will be revving into action this week in the annual SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge, which runs today through Saturday in Houghton, Michigan. Seventeen teams from Canada and the United States will compete in fuel efficiency, noise reduction and performance events. Waterloo's 24-member team is made up mainly of fourth-year mechanical engineering students. For this year's challenge, team members have modified a 2004 Polaris ProX 550 snowmobile.

Isn't there an old saying about listening before you talk? UW's continuing education office has clearly taken it to heart, since a course being offered next Tuesday on "Polishing Your Presentation Skills" is being preceded by one on Monday with the title "Listening with Understanding". Either of them will cost the general public $310 for one day's worth of insights and skills, while UW staff members can get a 50 per cent discount on the fee (for these or any other classroom courses offered by continuing ed). Coming later in March are "The Power of One" (about positive attitude), "Guerrilla Grammar", and (three days rather than just one) "Project Management Applied Tools and Techniques". Course descriptions and information about application procedures are, of course, online.

As the men’s hockey season ends, Ontario University Athletics has named a number of award winners, and here’s an excerpt from its announcement: “Sean Moir of the Waterloo Warriors is this year’s OUA West nominee for the Randy Gregg Award which is presented to the CIS athlete who best exhibits achievement in the areas of academics, community and hockey. In his third season with the Warriors, Moir has been a leader on and off the ice since his arrival in 2005, and has been an assistant captain for the past two seasons. Moir is studying in the Honours Biomedical Sciences program, and has been on the Dean’s list his past two seasons with the Warriors. While excelling on the ice and in the classroom, Moir also currently volunteers with the Grand River Hospital Emergency Department, greeting visitors, and assisting the emergency nurses with their day to day schedule. In September 2007, Sean volunteered in the early construction stages of construction of a home in Kitchener with his teammates for Habitat for Humanity, and also volunteered at a local grocery store to assist with the K-W Food Drive.” The OUA also named two Warriors — defenceman Kyle Sonnenburg and forward Shane Hart — to its all-star second team; Sonnenburg also joins the All-Rookie team.

CAR

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